Chieftain Buroogu and Walai, the medicine man, met one day to discuss the upcoming feast of fertility. The days were getting ever shorter, and the celebration would usher the beginning of the new cycle, when days would get longer and longer again. “How do you know the day when one cycle ends and another begins?” asked the chief. “I watch the sun every morning and evening,” answered the medicine man, “and I count the days.” The chief was surprised by the answer: “What’s more important?” The medicine man laughed: “The count!” After a long silence, the chief looked straight into the medicine man’s eyes: “How many days are there to a cycle?” “Don’t worry about that,” Walai answered briskly and waved his left hand, “but let’s talk about the upcoming celebration!” Smiling to himself, Buroogu made a note in his mind to probe the medicine man for the magical count on another propitious occasion. “All right,” he said after a brief pause, “how many boars will you sacrifice this time around?” The rest of their conversation went as smoothly as ever. And the feast was a great joy for all.